Kansas city LAN Party http://www.kclanparty.org/blog Just another WordPress weblog Sun, 05 May 2013 11:07:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 en hourly 1 April showers bring may flowers…. http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/05/05/april-showers-bring-may-flowers%e2%80%a6/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/05/05/april-showers-bring-may-flowers%e2%80%a6/#comments Sun, 05 May 2013 11:07:36 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=694 I’m not sure I’m going to survive the renters kids across the street… I know we moved into a tightly packed neighborhood so that Connor would have kids his age to play with… but we passed up a town house we could of bought for $12,000 to avoid “these” neighbors. Seriously, if I wanted kids running through my garden, trampling my garden liners and killing my seedlings in my veggie garden we could of had our house paid off already. Granted I know, not all renters are like this… I’ve met people who I was completely shocked to know that they were renters… but for the most part from my experience with renters it’s the same story. The boy from across the street actually asked me why I was watering our roses last week… well he asked what I was doing, then asked why I would do that… Uh… because it hasn’t rained in a few days and I want lots of beautiful rose blooms. I really don’t know how to respond to some of their questions without sarcasm, which really isn’t very productive, but I just don’t get the typical renters mentality with no sense of ownership or care for what they have. Once again, not all renters are like this, I’ve met plenty of renters who left their property better than the day they stepped into it… but the majority of renters I’ve met don’t take care of what they have been given, and take the work that others do to better the land they care for, for granted. I’d like to do the good Christian thing and be the father figure these kids don’t have… especially since Connor is absolutely in love with the girl that’s his age, but DAMNIT STAY OUT OF MY GARDENS! Maybe I stress too much about our garden space, but I want a beautiful flowering garden up front, and a very fruitful garden in back that I can share with our neighbors… can’t do that if everything I plant is constantly being trampled.

Aunt’s reply: Guess you need to set up clear rules at the beginning so you don’t snap later. Maybe, they won’t listen but it could be as you described they just don’t understand. Tell them you like them to be able to play with Connor but there are rules and let them know why. give them clear boundaries of play areas and protected plant areas where no one can trod unless they are helping you. Show them pictures of what you are growing and that you are willing to let them taste some of the fresh vegetables but that they have to help you protect the small plants or there will be no produce. It may not help but it is worth a try. If they feel some responsibility to your garden and take a child size amount of ownership in the health of the plants you may get them on your side. Talk to them soon before they make you crazy.

Cousin’s reply: Sounds pretty smart Aunt Rebecca. If all else fails Cody…. Electric fence like Grandpa. He he, to keep the cattle out!

Aunt’s reply: LOL I was just thinking ten feet tall…forgot about the electric fences.

My Reply: HAHA!!! I was actually fantasizing about an electric fence earlier today They’re not always bad kids, they’re just very attention starved. If I don’t have anything else to do, and the energy I can keep them out of trouble climbing trees with them, and racing bikes down the hill… The older boys bike has a dry rotted back tire that has to be aired up all the time… I was going to get a tire for him and teach him how to put it on… it’s an odd size that I’ve got to order from the UK so it’s taking some time. Anyways, the trouble starts when either I run out of energy, or have other things to get ready, then the wreak havoc on the neighborhood. I wouldn’t care as much if it weren’t for Connor being such a follower he just does what everyone else does, then doesn’t understand why he gets in trouble for it and they don’t.

Aunt’s reply: Cody, find your excited voice and tell them you have a very important project you are working on and that you need their help to succeed. Them set the boundaries and how they can help. GOOD LUCK on your mission.

]]> http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/05/05/april-showers-bring-may-flowers%e2%80%a6/feed/ What is wrong with people? http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/27/what-is-wrong-with-people/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/27/what-is-wrong-with-people/#comments Sat, 27 Apr 2013 18:59:21 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=692 Okay, so this was a conversation I saw from one of my friends on facebook earlier today.

friend: My 3 year old child acts like a 3 year old child when I take them to daycare… please help!
response 1: My daughter used to have that problem then we pumped her up on drugs and she’s totally docile now!
response 2: You should first see if he acts like that with your girlfriend, if so it’s the daycare, otherwise definitely go for the drugs.

well, maybe the conversation went more like this…

friend: My son hates going to daycare and throws a fit when I drop him off.
response 1: My daughter used to be the same, we saw a doctor about separation anxiety and they gave her some meds that make it much easier in the mornings.
response 2: Does he act like that when your girlfriend drops him off? If not definitely see a doctor about Separation Anxiety.

Anyways, what in the world is wrong with people? Who in their right mind would ever medicate a toddler for being a child…

]]> http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/27/what-is-wrong-with-people/feed/ Fight for injustice! http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/19/fight-for-injustice/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/19/fight-for-injustice/#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:33:05 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=689 I think we’ve all forgotten that if we fought for justice in this world none of us would be here. We as humans are quick to seek justice against others, but in reality we would never want justice served in our own lives. See, sin is the baseline for this world, from the moment you were conceived sin contaminated your existence, the only thing that can clean that sin is the blood of someone who has never sinned. Jesus Christ is the only human being that has ever lived a sinless life, made possible only through the virgin birth. It is this injustice that allows us to live, and one day reunite with our God and Savior. He loves us so much that He allows us to make the choice between Him and ourselves. I think that we as Christians often forget the injustice of our lives and forget to show others injustice as well. If we fought for our rights, we’d all be in Hell tonight… I believe this is one of the largest reasons why Paul when questioned on what role we should have in government said he didn’t think we should have any… what gives us the right to impose justice on others when we’ve been shown such amazing injustice in our own lives. When I let the idea of fighting to protect injustice fill my life, it was as if a great burden were lifted…

]]> http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/19/fight-for-injustice/feed/ Flower Power! http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/12/flower-power/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/12/flower-power/#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:05:48 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=687 Okay, so I’ve always said that I am terrible at gardening… for years everything I touched died. The only plant that I was able to successfully grow was an aloe plant, and it only survived because of it’s ability to survive with almost no water for extended periods of time. I always attributed my lack of plant keeping alivedness to a lack of attention span (I don’t do things like… oh… watering consistently), and a lack of patience (often to get faster results I’d use excessive amounts of chemical fertilizers to boost productivity). And while those things surely contributed to my inability to effectively grow plants, that’s not exactly the whole story. As it turns out I really needed some knowledge about plants… now that I am attempting to feed the family as much as possible from foods I grow… well I’ve been doing a lot of research.

First off, I’ve learned why Organic is better for your health, better for the environment, better for the plants, and is simply more sustainable. I’ve learned a lot of tricks that I want to use, such as in our yard I’m going to grow a combination of clover and grass. Clover has the unique ability to pull nitrogen from the air and put it in the soil! Because grass is “all leaf” it primarily uses nitrogen to grow, so with the clover fertilizing the grass it grows extremely fast choking out any weeds. I’ve also learned why “April showers bring May flowers” because nitrogen gets washed away first from the soil with the rain it creates a soil that is dense with phosphorus which is the nutrient plants use to bloom! This is how you can manipulate growth cycles using a phosphorus rich fertilizer like certain types of bat guano. This can give you additional blooms when your flowers may not traditionally do so. Probably the most important solution I’ve learned is with the capillary action self watering planters… these allow me to do my irregular watering schedule while keeping my plants alive! Another fun trick I’ve learned, is similar to the symbiotic relationship of grass and clover with companion planting… which will come in handing planting in such a small place on our patio. I will need to effectively group plants that can help each other grow in tight container spaces!

]]> http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/12/flower-power/feed/ Summer fun in New York http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/10/summer-fun-in-new-york/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/10/summer-fun-in-new-york/#comments Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:10:15 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=684 Are you ready to have a blast this summer? Well, for most of us adults summer is just work as usual, but for the lucky youth out there who get summers off it’s a magical time of fun and excitement! Adventures are never ending when summer comes. For me as a child I always remember summer camp… I realize now it was a way to get us out of the house so mom didn’t have to worry about who we were killing, or what we were breaking that might get her called home from work… but for us as kids summer camp was the pinnacle of fun! Pranks, new friends, old friends we hadn’t seen in a year, and learning from our wise “old” counselors. There’s something about summer camp that is just unbeatable. Being away from everything else distracting in this world for a week is like a cleanse for your mind and it really can’t be beat. If you’re looking for a place where you can meet and learn from friends all over the country… well, world! Look no further than Camp Chateaugay a summer camp in new york. Tucked away in the scenic Adirondacks, where teenagers can escape the pace and pressures of modern living, and enjoy the peace of the great outdoors. Teenagers can join the summer fun of camp Chateaugay and quiet their souls in the beautiful landscape of upstate New York.

]]> http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/04/10/summer-fun-in-new-york/feed/ Spring cleaning time http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/27/spring-cleaning-time/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/27/spring-cleaning-time/#comments Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:49:24 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=678 Well, it’s Spring! Even though we’ve got several inches of snow on the ground around here it’s still technically Spring. I always enjoy the spring cleaning rush though… things seem to be on the rise and it’s just a good way to start the year. I know the first few months were winter, but still, spring is a good season for me :-D I always seem to have a bit of a pick up in blog traffic. This is essential to my yearly routine… I’ve just been behind getting caught up. I just couldn’t bring myself to sit down and update every day, finally I think I’ve got the feelings in order to get all this jazzed up and ready to fly. BTW Power Rangers are not a good thing to have going in the background as you try to type… the incredibly awesome dialog is rotting my brain! Actually, now that I’m getting older I’ve been more intentional about my exercise routine, my eating, my depression management, and even my brain increase… I started some Greek lessons for myself, just something to challenge and continue to mold my brain… even though it’s supposedly solidified now… we’ll carve a new language in there anyways to help keep it moving, like I need to keep up with mah blogs too.

]]> http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/27/spring-cleaning-time/feed/ Moving expenses http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/26/moving-expenses/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/26/moving-expenses/#comments Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=680 There are some things that I just will never understand… Okay, so these neighbors of ours leave every winter, within one week of the actual winter season beginning, and return within one week of the spring season starting… obviously delayed by snow this time. Now, I understand having a time share, or a winter home… but they move their entire house every time! All of their furniture, everything completely cleared out and moved twice a year… sounds freaking stressful. The time of year they leave and return is pretty exact so I gotta assume it’s a time share… or job related. But you’d think it would be cheaper (They don’t do much of the moving themselves, they get a giant semi, and a moving crew… which seems excessive for how small these houses are… and expensive) and less stressful getting two sets of furniture, if it is a time share with 4 or more families splitting the bill heck it’d be even better!

On the other hand, you certainly wouldn’t accumulate clutter moving all of your crap twice a year. I don’t really care what my neighbors do… I just find it odd that they spend so much time moving their stuff back and forth between here and… wherever they go :-P

]]> http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/26/moving-expenses/feed/ It is a nice house Eeyore http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/25/it-is-a-nice-house-eeyore/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/25/it-is-a-nice-house-eeyore/#comments Mon, 25 Mar 2013 23:36:01 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=676 Eeyore and all those creatures from the 100 acre wood area are silly… That’s just my opinion though. I guess it makes more sense that the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, MO had been won for several years in a row by Ken Block… being that it is named after a childrens series. Okay, that doesn’t really make much sense, I’m just trying to get some more words shoved in here so that my site can be used up. A daily update is going to be necessary on here for a little while. Different sites seem to hold different powers and we’re running a little experiment this week. A daily update is nice, but when I update a single blog every day, and then every other site once per week gives me a good handle on how things get published. Not sure if there is any momentum building, or if one or two of my blogs are just getting more attention than others, so this way we’ll try and figure it out. I really should get my blogger stuff in on this too, I could program a months worth of stuff with them one blog a day every day for a while, and then do the same with these blogs, one update a day per blog every day giving me three updates a day… eh, who knows maybe it’ll work, maybe not.

]]> http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/25/it-is-a-nice-house-eeyore/feed/ Kickin’ the giggles http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/23/kickin%e2%80%99-the-giggles/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/23/kickin%e2%80%99-the-giggles/#comments Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:57:46 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=674 Okay, well I’m just throwing down something for the time being, that will help me maybe one day get the idea of actually doing a post a day per blog… so far this is day three, and I’ve got a post for every day, just not every blog. My barley grass has shown signs of sprouting… which is good, I just wish I could see the same signs from my stevia and spearmint plants… I’ve never had a green thumb, so I’m really just hoping that nature takes over and does its thing. My self watering containers, and use of worm castings should do better than I have ever done on my own before… Plus I have spent a lot of time researching and learning about plant nutrient needs… it’s more than just dirt as it turns out :-P A combination of worm castings from my worm farm, and Azomite to fill in all those trace mineral gaps, that will allow me to get the trace minerals I need too!

]]> http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/23/kickin%e2%80%99-the-giggles/feed/ For the sake of being fresh http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/13/for-the-sake-of-being-fresh/ http://www.kclanparty.org/blog/2013/03/13/for-the-sake-of-being-fresh/#comments Wed, 13 Mar 2013 06:26:25 +0000 Cody Sortore http://www.codysortore.com/blog/?p=670 Definitely could use some freshining up around here! All of my sites need a little extra fresh special. And I think it is the perfect time to drop some freshness around here! Okay, so it’s the middle of the night, and I wanted to have three fresh posts done today, and now it is technically tomorrow… but oh well. It’s not the perfect time, but no time better than the present right? All I really can say is that I really hope my Spearmint and Stevia plants sprout. Starting anything from seed can be stressful. I don’t exactly have a green thumb… the only plant I’ve ever had good luck with was my Aloe plant from a long time ago. With tips from my mom… and the fact that it loved being ignored it did well. Last year I put in some grape vines, and they took off like crazy, which may have given me a little bit of a green thumb confidence boost, but grapes like to be left alone too. Now I’ve got a whole pack of seeds for all kinds of veggies, two raspberry bushes (well just twigs now), three pomegranate plants that will be extra tricky since I’ll have to bring them in and put them out every year. I’ve got plans for expanding my gardening stuff hugely too… I like the idea of growing things at home… I’ve just never been any good at it. I start off well, but I either over do things, or forget about them, it’s that OCD all or nothing personality I’ve got going on. Anyways, I hope to avoid most unpleasantries with self watering pots, organic fertilizer (including, but not limited to Bokashi buckets, and a worm farm)… the Bokashi and Worms are slower than I would like them to be… so I’ll have to wait to expand my garden, until I’ve got my worm farm at a much larger capacity of worms than it currently is… and I’ve got to wait for the first batch of Bokashi to finish fermenting. In the mean time I’m going to start growing barley grass, hopefully the high chlorophyll content will help my inflammation problem, and starting with a simple plant will help me get my indoor garden off the ground knowing how much light it will need, and how I can optimize things with the LED grow lights I’ve purchased.

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